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Saudi Oil Attack is the Big One
Wall Street Journal ^ | 9/15/19 | Spencer Jakab

Posted on 09/15/2019 8:22:42 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods

Saturday’s attack on a critical Saudi oil facility will almost certainly rock the world energy market in the short term, but it also carries disturbing long-term implications. Ever since the dual 1970s oil crises, energy security officials have fretted about a deliberate strike on one of the critical choke points of energy production and transport. Sea lanes such as the Strait of Hormuz usually feature in such speculation. The facility in question at Abqaiq is perhaps more critical and vulnerable. The Wall Street Journal reported that 5.7 million barrels a day of output, or some 5% of world supply, had been taken offline as a result.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iran; oil; saudi; texasgatortroll
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Trump's offer to use the Strategic reserve came fast and will help calm things. A spike in oil prices is the last thing we need right now, which is why someone (Iran or Saudi Arabia) is trying to cause one.
1 posted on 09/15/2019 8:22:42 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods
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To: SaxxonWoods

Politics is no longer local.


2 posted on 09/15/2019 8:24:51 AM PDT by going hot (happiness is a momma deuce)
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To: SaxxonWoods
I honestly think this whole thing is a farce.

Saudi Arabia is the largest oil-producing member of OPEC, and as such they regularly reduce their oil production to keep oil prices high.

So now they've lost 5.7 million barrels per day of production capacity? LOL. Big deal. I'm sure the other OPEC members can make up for that lost production.

3 posted on 09/15/2019 8:26:57 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." -- Frederick Douglass)
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To: Alberta's Child
Watch Monday's oil market prices.

It's the only opinion that counts.

4 posted on 09/15/2019 8:29:34 AM PDT by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
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To: going hot

Start taking Iranian oil production capabilities “off the market.”


5 posted on 09/15/2019 8:31:08 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: AndyJackson

Fortunately Trump has permitted US oil production to increase, removing the restrictions placed on it by preceding administrations.

So, we don’t import oil any more.

The rest of the world can fend for themselves, or buy from us.


6 posted on 09/15/2019 8:32:57 AM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: SaxxonWoods

Just remember all of those people who say we need to pull out of the Middle East. Our economy is so energy based from the fruit we buy in our grocery store to filling up the gas tank. These are orders coming straight from Iran to their puppets in the Houthi Rebels. If the Saudis just quit this war in Yemen, they would have a similar situation that Israel has. An Iranian proxy constantly lobbing missiles, drone strikes etc... into them all the time.

Iran is the biggest menace in the Middle East right now. It’s why we must keep a presence in Syria, so that Iran does not gain larger influence there, thus encircling the Gulf Arab States.

This could also drive a wedge between China and Russia. Russia wants energy to spike because their country is a big gas station with an Army. China depends a lot on Middle Eastern oil and an energy spike would be far worse for them than us.


7 posted on 09/15/2019 8:33:02 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: SaxxonWoods
This is Iran crying for economic relief and NOT a Saudi deception.

Iran's political structure is at risk and they seem unconcerned with military consequences.

8 posted on 09/15/2019 8:35:15 AM PDT by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
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To: CondorFlight
"The rest of the world can fend for themselves, or buy from us."

Keep in mind that oil is an international market. The price of oil goes up it will go up for us as well as everyone else. The only way we can offset that is by our companies producing more oil and replacing the oil that is off the market.
9 posted on 09/15/2019 8:35:48 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Alberta's Child

That takes time. It’s surprising how many conservatives tout the liberal line about the evil oil industry when prices might go up.


10 posted on 09/15/2019 8:36:40 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The internet has driven the world mad.)
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To: SaxxonWoods

Repost.....

The attack on Abquiq is the present day equivalent of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
When the American sanctions became unbearable, the Japanese decided to lash out and go to war.

Iran attacked Abquiq to deliver the message to Donald Trump that the sanctions must be lifted. Iranians are cowards and will never attack directly. They cower behind surrogates or in the Abquiq case, false surrogates. The question rises.

How will the coalition of USA, Gulf Cooperation Council, and Israel respond. Will there be devestating sanctions on France and Germany for violating the sanctions. Will there be a kinetic attack that takes out Bandar Shapur? Will Iran be prohibited from ttending the upcoming UN meeting? Will Houthi Yemen be bombed to rubble?

It occured to me that at the coming UN meeting the President can have a one on one meeting with the Iranian boss and sit down and listen. He can then look the man in the eye and say “stop all that shit or we will kill you. Got it?”

No negotiating, no beating around the diplomatic bush, just plain easily understood reality


11 posted on 09/15/2019 8:37:16 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: CondorFlight

What are you talking about? We produce about 10 million barrels a day and use 29 million.

We import a hell of a lot of oil. The fact we export some production makes our importing numbers go up.


12 posted on 09/15/2019 8:38:53 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The internet has driven the world mad.)
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To: AndyJackson

Isn’t there a stop to Iran oil exports in place as part of the sanctions?

Perhaps Iran thinks by crippling Saudi exports they will be allowed to fill the void, even though they have caused the shortage to begin with.

Those people in the ME only respect one thing and that is overwhelming and brutal force. say give them something to make them think the next time they feel like causing trouble.

Ignoring these actions will only invite more of the same. It is really up to the more sane individuals to keep these crackpots in line and it ain’t gonna happen with words.

With all due respect to our President I think the time for talking is past.


13 posted on 09/15/2019 8:39:06 AM PDT by billyboy15
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To: bert

Yes, and the big question is whether this will be a one-off attack or the beginning of a spate of such actions.


14 posted on 09/15/2019 8:39:43 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The internet has driven the world mad.)
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To: SaxxonWoods

In the President’s words “we’ll see”


15 posted on 09/15/2019 8:41:08 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: G Larry

That’s my take too, though there is speculation due to the timing.


16 posted on 09/15/2019 8:41:25 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The internet has driven the world mad.)
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To: CondorFlight

“So, we don’t import oil any more.”

Nonsense.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3778778/posts?page=48#48

I don’t know who or what originated this fallacious idea into the American consciousness, but it is certainly not accurate.


17 posted on 09/15/2019 8:44:22 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: bert

He will use the Strategic Reserve if needed, but Trump says we’ll see because that’s his favorite non-answer to any question he doesn’t want to directly face at the moment.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, heh.


18 posted on 09/15/2019 8:45:29 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The internet has driven the world mad.)
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To: CondorFlight

So, we don’t import oil any more.


Ah but we do. US refineries are set to refine heavy crude; US oil fields produce light or sweet crude. We have little or no capacity to refine it, thanks in part to NIMBY sentiments. Therefore, to keep US refineries going we need to import heavy crude.


19 posted on 09/15/2019 8:46:43 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: SaxxonWoods

I think the oil stock markets open tonight 6pm EST. Not sure. At 5% of the world market, it will be interesting to see how the market reacts.

The long term, is the cost of protection for all refineries/chemical plants World Wide that are now vulnerable to an asymmetrical drone attack.


20 posted on 09/15/2019 8:46:52 AM PDT by Drango (1776 = 2020)
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